IBM announced today it is pulling out of ______ .

IBM, following the lead of General Motors, announced today it’s pulling out of South Africa. Like General Motors, IBM says it’s selling its South African holdings because of the political and economic situation there. Anti-apartheid groups have praised the decision, but the state Department says business pullouts are regrettable. Spokesman Charles Redmond said today the Reagan Administration believes US corporate involvement in South Africa has been a progressive force against apartheid. "We regret any decision to reduce US private sector involvement in South Africa. Such reductions could have harmful effects on black workers, injure the South African economy which has, on the whole, weakened the premises of apartheid and provided a means of improving the living standards and skills of many people otherwise disadvantaged by apartheid, and it might limit the extent of US influence in South Africa." State Department spokesman Charles Redmond. IBM employs some 1,500 people in South Africa.